2013 Lake Oswego Reads Book Announced!

Seventh Annual Lake Oswego Reads

Book Announcement for 2013

Running the Rift

by Naomi Benaron

Running the Rift tells the story of Jean Patrick Nkuba, a gifted Rwandan boy, from the day he knows that running will be his life to the moment he must run to save his life, a ten-year span in which his country is undone by the Hutu-Tutsi tensions. It won the 2010 Bellwether Prize for fiction, a prize awarded for a first novel that has discussed social engagement within its literature.

Naomi Benaron was born and raised in Boston, MA and currently lives in Tucson, AZ. She is a graduate of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Antioch University, Los Angeles and Scripps University of Oceanography, San Diego. She is also the author of ‘Love Letter from a Fat Man’, a collection of short stories, which won the 2006 G. S. Sharat Chandra prize for fiction. Her works extend to poetry which has been published in many acclaimed journals and anthologies. She is also a marathon runner.

She said, “I am both thrilled and deeply honored to have Running the Rift selected for the 2013 Lake Oswego Reads program. I wrote this novel to address the Rwandan genocide in a way that went beyond the news clips that so often flicker unnoticed across our TV screens. For me, this event is like a dream come true; it is a chance for the entire community to share in this story that has become such an important part of my life.”

The official kickoff of Lake Oswego Reads will be Monday, January 7, 2013, at the Library, with complimentary books distributed to Lake Oswego Public Library card holders, thanks to the Friends of the Lake Oswego Public Library. The committee is presently developing a schedule of programs for February so that Lake Oswego residents can not only discuss the book but also experience the book with speakers, music, food, art and more. If you have a connection to Rwanda, please contact Cyndie Glazer at 503-675-2538 or cglazer@ci.oswego.or.us.